The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Genetically-Modified Beagle Glows in the Dark – What Do You Think? The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Genetically-Modified Beagle Glows in the Dark – What Do You Think?

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Genetically-Modified Beagle Glows in the Dark – What Do You Think?


Scientists in South Korea said two-year-old Tegon, a genetically-modified beagle, actually glows in the dark.

When the scientists from Seoul National University feed Tegon doxycycline she glows fluorescent green under ultraviolet light.  Removing the drug from her food effectively turns off the radiant effect.

The researchers hope that their discovery can help develop human treatments for some of the 268 illnesses that dogs and people share in common.

"The creation of Tegon opens new horizons since the gene injected to make the dog glow can be substituted with genes that trigger fatal human diseases," lead researcher Lee Byeong-chun told Yonhap news agency.

The dog was created using the same somatic cell transfer technology that the University team used to create the world's first cloned puppy, Snuppy, in 2005.

According to Reuters the discovery took four years of research worth roughly $3 million.




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